This is a big deal, so I thought it was worth talking about. I’ve already read that the networks are “tripping over themselves” to bid on this pilot. And Fox being back on primetime full-time could be significant when he slays it come Emmy time.

The Sony Pictures Television single-camera project is inspired by the life of the former “Family Ties” star.

8/15/2012 by Lesley Goldberg

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Michael J. Fox is ready to go back to . . . television full time.

The “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future” star is shopping a single-camera comedy project inspired by his life, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

As first reported by Vulture, Fox is teaming with “Arrested Development” and “Cougar Town” scribe Sam Laybourne and “Easy A” director Will Gluck for the Sony Pictures Television comedy. Fox would star.

SPT is shopping the series to broadcast networks, with all four network bosses said to have heard the pitch, which the studio is eyeing for a launch next year.

Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, of late has booked gigs on CBS’ “The Good Wife,” HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and FX’s “Rescue Me.” His credits also include “Boston Legal,” “Spin City,” and voice work on the “Stuart Little” animated features.

I read this and thought it would go to cable. I don’t think anybody in Fox’s condition could take on a 22 episode season for whatever ammount of time it can last. Isn’t that the main reason why he left Spin City? Or was it because he couldn’t control his disease and now he can have a better time working with it?

It seems like hard work and somebody as big as Michael J Fox would be the lead of the show and be on a lot of scenes, if not all of them, all the time if it’s going to be a family comedy.

He got 3 Globes, 2 Sags, and an Emmy for a show that was basically ignored otherwise by the Emmys. Maybe he can be the New Alec Baldwin and have a ridiculously unrelenting winning streak for this new show.

UPDATED: In a competitive situation, Michael J. Fox’s new family comedy project has landed at the same network that aired the family comedy which made him a household name 30 years ago, Family Ties. NBC nabbed the untitled single-camera comedy co-created bySam Laybourne (Cougar Town) and Will Gluckwith an 22-episode series order for fall 2013 premiere. The setup for the Sony TV-produced comedy, loosely based on Fox’s real life, has him play a husband and father of three in New York City dealing with family, career, and challenges – including Parkinson’s Disease. (Fox, himself a father of four, has Parkinson’s and lives with his family in New York.) The pitch went to all four major broadcast networks last week, with ABC, NBC and CBS in hot pursuit. NBC outbid the other networks by offering an on-air full-season episodic pickup that the TV business had not seen in years. “From the moment we met with Michael to hear his unique point of view about this new show, we were completely captivated and on board,” NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt said. “He is utterly relatable, optimistic, and in a class by himself, and I have no doubt that the character he will create – and the vivid family characters surrounding him – will be both instantly recognizable and hilarious.”

Gluck is set to direct the pilot for the series, which will be written by Laybourne. The two will executive produce, with Richard Schwartz of Gluck’s Sony TV-based Olive Bridge Entertainment co-exec producing. Filming is slated to begin later this year.

Fox first flirted with returning to TV comedy full-time last development season when he had conversations with ABC Studios but the project never materialized. The idea of a new Michael J. Fox comedy series picked up steam when the actor met with Gluck. The two hit it off, and Gluck introduced Fox to Laybourne. Gluck and Laybourne have been close friends since Laybourne worked as a writer on Gluck’s Fox series The Loop, with the two said to share similar sensibilities. Laybourne has worked on feature projects for Gluck, including Rehab, and has signed a script deal with Sony TV for a comedy to be produced by Gluck’s Sony TV-based company. That pact led to Laybourne’s involvement in the Michael J. Fox project.

Fox left his last series starring role on ABC’s Spin City when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. His final episode on the show remains one of the most watched series telecast of the past two decades. On the comedy side, he guest starred on the most recent season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, earning an Emmy nomination. He also is nominated for his recurring role on the CBS drama The Good Wife. His Emmy tally includes 15 nominations and 5 wins, three for Family Ties and one each for Spin City and Rescue Me. (Photo: Mark Seliger)

That’s fitting that Fox gets to return “home” to NBC. And NBC needs all the help that they can get at this point, so his star power will hopefully benefit them next season. A full season order too? How about that?

And let’s be honest, inspite his previous relationships with other networks, the parallel of him returning to NBC in a show where he is a father decades later of the show that launched him when he was still a teen and played a son, is too good to ignore. The media will eat it up, and both NBC and Fox benefit from this deal and exposure. This was the only straight to series NBC order that I feel was an intelligent move.